How To Shred Potatoes For Casseroles And Crispy Hash Browns

Perhaps you always rely on the store-bought shredded potatoes, and the store is fresh out. Or you’re trying to use up the potatoes that have been hanging around the pantry and want to make your family's favorite cheesy casserole. Whatever the reason, you need to shred them—and we can help.

Whether for latkes or hash brown casserole, shredding potatoes from scratch can easily become quite a bit of work. Unlike cheese, which we almost always recommend grating fresh, especially for casseroles, frozen or refrigerated shredded potatoes are commonly found in the ingredient lists of our recipes. But when store-bought won't do, here are some tips and tricks for shredding potatoes at home.

How To Shred Potatoes

It’s not complicated, but there are few tricks for ensuring they come out just right.

1. Peel the potatoes

Once you peel your potatoes, the clock starts ticking on oxidation, and soon your potatoes will be brown. So, don’t peel your potatoes ahead of time, unless you plan to store them in water until ready to shred. 

2. Get to grating

You have two options: elbow grease or a machine. Both work, but one method does require a little more effort (or a lot more, if we are being honest). 

Option 1: By hand

Use the largest holes on a box grater or a mandoline with grating blades set over a plate to shred potatoes. It’s important to place a plate underneath the grater or mandoline as this will contain the mess and keep all your potatoes together instead of scattered in little ribbons across the countertop.

Make sure to work in batches (one potato at a time is best practice) and to completely submerge the freshly grated potatoes in cold water while working on the remaining ones to avoid browning. 

Option 2: Food processor 

The fastest and easiest method is to use a food processor with a grater attachment. Not only are you less likely to cut yourself feeding the potatoes through the machine than with a grater, but because the food processor makes the whole process so fast, the potatoes won’t have as much time to sit and oxidize. 

3. Remove the excess moisture

Once all the potatoes are grated, you need to remove their excess moisture before mixing the shredded potatoes into the casserole.

If stored in cold water, start by straining the potatoes into a colander. Transfer the potatoes to a clean cloth and over the sink, wring out the cloth, squeezing out as much of the moisture as you can.

Lastly, pat the shredded potatoes dry with a paper towel. This may seem like a lot of work, but the potatoes won’t crisp up if left wet and can even make your casserole soggy. You've come so far, don't risk a soggy casserole. Once dry, your shredded potatoes are ready to use.

Casseroles To Make With Shredded Potatoes

Use your freshly shredded potatoes in one of these delicious casseroles:

• Deep-Dish Loaded Hash Brown Casserole: As the title implies, this casserole is loaded flavor, mostly from ample amounts of gooey Cheddar and salty bacon.
• Party Potatoes: This dish goes by many names, like Funeral Potatoes or Potato-Cornflake Casserole, but whatever call you it, it's stuffed with shredded potatoes and topped with crushed cornflakes for crunch. A perfect pairing of ingredients if you ask us.
• Hash Brown Frittata: Our Hash Brown Frittata takes two breakfast favorites—eggs and hash browns—and transforms them into one delicious dish. It's not technically a casserole, but it's a large format, comforting breakfast dish filled with potatoes and that's close enough for us.